All Hail Rice Balls

Or, as they're called in Italian *arancini*.

Those are my MIL's from this past Christmas. With kitchen help from two subsequent generations, she made about 80 last week.

Essentially, they are just balls of risotto, rolled in bread crumbs, that are deep fried.

There are embellishments within, of course: cheese, meat, maybe some peas, etc.

Outside of her house, I've only seen them once before - at a pizza shop on Court Street in Brooklyn. These things, when properly done, taste so great I just don't understand why they aren't more prevalent.

Having never made them for myself (yet!), I don't have a good recipe to pass on. So google sufficiently before choosing one to try. The bit of meat in the middle is probably important. I've seen some recipes with prosciutto, though my MIL uses pork; and here's one that looks like it uses sausage.

If you don't feel like trying to make them, then just find and goad some old-school Italian grandmother to do so for you. These food wackos are always looking for tiny excuse to spend a few (more) hours in the kitchen!